Americans rewriting history

[Sam Slater]

The Brits are a stubborn lot Wazza. Metric is much more efficient and logical than Imperial measurements, and how long has Europe been encouraging to change us now? We adopted the metrication of money -like the Yanks- but that's it.

American sotware companies omitting English English as an option is NOT survival of the fittest (it is survival of the fittest in the business, marketing and technological sense with the software companies producing the products needed).

[Sam Slater]

[quote]American English is a valid a language as English English. If we were to go by numbers of native speakers it would be MORE valid and if we were to go by numbers of numbers of native speakers plus second language speakers (e.g Japanese and Chinese) then it would EVEN MORE valid.[/quote]

Oh, I forgot. English speakers in India, right through the Middle East, are all taught English English. There are more English speakers in India (nearly 400 million) than in Britain and the USA combined.

It's just a guess but if we count British, European, Irish, Australian, Kiwi, South African(and other African speakers?), Indian, and the Middle East (probably a few Caribbean speakers also), then maybe American English isn't as dominant as we thought.

And if true, all the above countries are, at times, being forced to choose American English when using computer software.

[c.j.jaxxon]

You know, the way I see it so far the difference is the way we may spell certain words, have different slang terms and the way we pronounce words with dilects. It's all english to me!

[Trumpton]

warren zevon rip wrote:

> Austrlaian and NZ English is actually closer to American
> English as far as I can see

Nah.

The younger generation attempt to use American English to appear "cool", they same happens here in the UK.

British English is taught in schools and used by the state, media, etc.

[Sam Slater]

[quote]I had taken India into account - they are now actually much more used to American English due to the prevalence of the computer industry there (which as we all agree has an American English bias)[/quote]

Yes, a little googling has seen a rise in American English since 1997......which is when Indians came to the internet. That makes sense, as most spell checkers on PC's had no British spelling alternative back then.

[quote]Even if this was not the case, India would not even cancel out China.[/quote]

I think it is the case, as most English teachers amongst schools and universities teach British English. Also nearly 50% of Indians speak English pretty fluently. Though China has a big population, the use of English is nowhere near as high.

[quote]You seem to have conveniently forgotten about the enormous number of Portuguese/Spanish speakers who use American English as their second language - some of the most populated countries of the world![/quote]

I must concede this point; I did over look their contribution. (though NOT conveniently in a purposeful way)

[quote]Australian and NZ English is actually closer to American English as far as I can see - it certainly is not pure English English.[/quote]

Is it? Pronunciation is hard to judge, but lots of the words used are mainly British (I have family in Perth and Sydney). As for spellings, it's British English as far as I can tell via letters and e-mails, so I guess that's what they're taught in school. I'll admit that their contribution as negligible on the global scale.

[quote]Nobody has had American English forced upon them - it is just that the most popular computer programs are American in origin. As I said - survival of the fittest![/quote]

Hmmmm I think so. Since you most definitely need some sort of computer software, and internet access to survive in the modern world, countries rely on Microsoft. The survival of the fittest analogy works if people are choosing American English over British English, and such occasions show the strength, or fitness, of a language; without a choice, they're being forced (although NOT literally!) More accurately, an Indian -for instance- could say, "If I want to produce an essay, in English, on my PC, I am forced to become more familiar with American English."

I'm not denying the relevence of American English, but I am saying our language is being ignored by certain companies, and yet will accomodate lesser used languages like Finnish (as an example).

[Sam Slater]

Well, most people who speak Spanish can also understand Portuguese, but neither are forced to use the other.

American ignorance, and arrogance in English English is for all to see. Google and see what they have to say. 'Archaic', and 'stupid' crop up pretty frequently.